NLC Connect June 4 2024

TUESDAY, JUNE 4
6:00 a.m. - Men’s Bible Study - Zach Clemmer speaking - Dining Room
4:00 p.m. - NLC GROUP CAMPSITE OPEN! - Morro Bay State Park
6:30 p.m. - The Healing Rooms of Dinuba - West patio of Worship Center
7:00 p.m. - GRIEFSHARE group - Rooms 114/115

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5 - NLC GROUP CAMPSITE OPEN AT MORRO BAY
6:30 pm - Prayer Gathering, Room 113
NO Worship Team rehearsal

THURSDAY, JUNE 6 - NLC GROUP CAMPSITE OPEN AT MORRO BAY
5:30 pm - CELEBRATE RECOVERY meal, worship, groups

FRIDAY, JUNE 7 - NLC ALL-CHURCH CAMPOUT BEGINS
9:00 a.m. - Viewing of Paulie Romero - NLC Gym
10:00 a.m. - Celebration of Life Service for Paulie Romero - NLC Gym; Graveside to follow at Smith Mountain Cemetery with a lunch at NLC Dining Room

It is a week of exploring mission and ministry for people of all ages,
presented by NLC's denominational mission agency, Multiply.

MONDAY, JUNE 10
ALL DAY - SOAR Central Valley
6 pm - CR Worship Team rehearsal

TUESDAY, JUNE 11
6:30 a.m. - Men’s BYO-BREAKFAST -- Perko's Restaurant, N. Alta Ave., Dinuba
6:30 p.m. - The Healing Rooms of Dinuba - West patio of Worship Center
NO- GRIEFSHARE TONIGHT

THURSDAY, JUNE 13
5:30 pm - CELEBRATE RECOVERY meal, worship, groups

SUNDAY, JUNE 16 - FATHER'S DAY, PASTOR MARK'S RETIREMENT CELEBRATION

• Change for Life baby bottles due back at the church

8:30 a.m. ADULT GROWTH CLASS

• Foundations in Finance - Room 111 (all are welcome!)

9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT

• Come meet and encourage others over coffee and snacks - Dining Room

10:00 a.m. - WORSHIP/NLC KIDS/NURSERY

• Pastor Mark's last message (Philippians 1:6)
• Jordan Ringhofer and team leading worship
• Video presentation celebrating 40 years of marriage and ministry for Pastor Mark & Laurie

11:15 a.m. - CELEBRATION LUNCH

• Free meal provided by the church.

5:00 p.m. - NLC CREW  (youth group) - Room 207

Pick up your TO GO Sirloin Steak Dinners at Living Word Fellowship in Dinuba
between 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM on FRIDAY, JUNE 21.
Dinner includes 4 oz. sirloin steak, baked potato & sour cream, beans,
salad and a dinner roll with butter.
Deadline to purchase your tickets is June 17th.
Visit opengatedinuba.com/events or stop by their office across from the church.

 Received Last Week (6/02):……...... $2,950
Received this year to date: ...……..$264,937
Budget to Date: …….........................$307,955
Budget Goal: …………...…...…...........$400,342
Needed Weekly: …………….…...........…$11,284

First, let me thank you as a church for providing me and Laurie with a sabbatical in 2022. It is the only sabbatical I've been given in 40 years of ministry, and it was significant. Over 20 years ago I had to take some time away from ministry, which I described briefly in my blog on mental health, largely because I was running on fumes at the time. I had asked for a sabbatical in the years prior, but my request never caught traction among the leaders at that church. Pastors need time and space to be restored, regularly, for ministry, and frankly, churches need their pastors to be restored. Thank you, NLC and leaders, for giving me and Laurie that opportunity two years ago.

Like in many occupations, I suppose, ministry can demand a lot of attention on many things at once: people's needs, programming details, decisions, activities, and crises. And then there's the whole process of sermon-writing, usually taking 1-2 days of the week at minimum for planning, studying, writing, and preparing slides and sometimes study guides. Pastors have to keep their heads down to keep up with it all. And the trouble with keeping your head down is that you lose focus on vision. To lead with vision requires that you lift your gaze upward and outward to see the bigger picture of what God is doing. Sabbaticals are extremely helpful for this, though I've learned to do this important work in other ways, too.

My six-year seminary education was actually a time of restoration for me. It was invigorating to study the Bible for what it was rather than as a tool for my job. And talking and learning alongside others was stimulating. Fresno Pacific University's seminary offers courses for adults to audit if you'd like a similar opportunity.

My first pastorate in Tulsa was in a small church. I had just come from a very large church in Visalia, and missed the larger worship services and the range and quality of the musicians. So I found what I was missing by regularly attending the annual Advent and Lenten services at the First Presbyterian Church downtown, a large cathedral with a master organist and host of guest pastors from all over the United States. The music, the gourmet lunches for local ministers afterwards, and the conversations with each guest pastor were elevating and enlightening.

Laurie and I once took advantage of a free week at a pastoral retreat in Wisconsin. There were a few other pastor couples there and a leader and his wife who provided counsel and friendship. That's where Laurie and I found "The Woodshed", a private cabin for prayer and study overlooking the small lake. We reserved time there every day and have kept it as an inspiration for making our own places of prayer in our homes/yards ever since, including the tent I pitched in the back yard under the maple tree as an "office" during COVID.

I've also made a regular practice of driving up to St. Anthony's Retreat in Three Rivers over the years. They save me a room to study in, and provide some delicious meals and delightful conversations at lunch, too. I avoid the Internet and just bring my Bible, a pen, and a notepad/journal. I'm only there to spend time with God and not for the business of doing ministry. I just read, listen, and relate with Him, hearing from Him, and laying my own thoughts and plans before Him.

Denominational retreats for pastors as well as conventions have not been that restorative to me, I've discovered. They've been good times to get to know other pastors and the content of the presenters has usually been helpful, but not restorative. Sometimes people in the same line of work just need to vent and take comfort in the fact that others deal with the same things. There's a place for that, I've found. But what I've appreciated most are those times when, like King David wrote in Psalm 23, "he makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters, and he restores my soul."

Thank you, again, for giving me and Laurie the opportunity restore our souls, and for giving me the time and space I've needed to pursue that in my regular schedule as your pastor. I hope you find a weekly time of restoration in our Sunday worship services. Consider setting aside a day, if you can, to take your Bible, a pen, and a journal (leave the smartphone for the day) and let the Lord lead you and restore your soul.